Boren’s comments make it appear Oklahoma’s ready to bolt

Posted By
John Henderson
On
September 19, 2011 @ 6:16 pm
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Football,Pac-12 |
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While Texas president Bill Powers ducked away from reporters after Monday’s meeting with his university board of regents, his counterpart at Oklahoma, David Boren, held court after a board meeting in which the regents gave him carte blanche power.

He barely hid behind any political gobbledygook. His main comments are in my story on line and in the paper but I’m adding some more below. He basically said he’s sick and tired of the Big 12’s instability. He said he’s looking out for the best interest of, not only the school, but Oklahoma’s fans and athletes.

“It’s extremely important,” he told reporters. “You have to look at it this way: One of the most important things for our fans and our students is for us to be a member of a stable conference so we do not continue to have distracting dramas about the conference itself. We are in a very strong position at this time.”

He emphasized that he hasn’t made a decision and isn’t discounting continued membership in the Big 12. But with Texas A&M’s inevitable departure to the SEC and no viable replacements, it seems the only logical conclusion is to look elsewhere.

He’s still talking to Texas even though he rebuffed Texas officials’ recent efforts to keep him from looking elsewhere. It doesn’t sound as if they talk very often, though.

“I think we’re always stronger when Texas and Oklahoma move together, just like we’re stronger when Oklahoma and Oklahoma State work together,” he said. “We have different perspectives. I’d put it this way: We’re listening with respect to each other, at this point in time. It’s too early to tell whether we’ll make a common decision or not.”

He also took a backhanded shot at the Big 12 which is offering few solutions and standing disturbingly out of the public eye. Baylor is leading a threat to sue the SEC for inviting Texas A&M and that lawsuit should be taken seriously. Boren is.

“I don’t think you build trust and I don’t think you build stability in a conference by the threat of litigation,” Boren said. “If it takes the threat of litigation to keep a conference together, that’s not the right way to proceed. Stability is based upon trust.”

Meanwhile, Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe apparently moved to Dreamland. In a statement after the two regents meetings concluded, Beebe said, “The actions taken today by the governing boards of the universities of Oklahoma and Texas was anticipated. It is my opinion that the case for the Big 12 Conference continues to be as strong today for all of our current members as it was last year, especially considering the welfare of those to whom we owe the greatest responsibility: the student-athletes. We continue to apply all effort and resources toward assuring our members that maintaining the Big 12 is in the best interest for their institutions.”

I won’t guess on when the Pac-12 expands but it’s easy to say it will. And here’s hoping Scott works out a deal with Texas and it’s Longhorn Network. A 14-team conference is much more difficult to schedule and align in divisions than 16 teams.